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Ultrasound in Medicine

Standard Grade Physics

Health Physics
Ultrasound in Medicine

This presentation will explain what ultrasound

is and how it is used in medicine.
You will be given a choice of general or credit
options, ask your teacher which you should
take.
Always follow the instructions on screen!
What is Ultrasound?

Ultrasound is simply sound

that has a very high frequency.
Humans are not able to hear
ultrasound, though some
animals can hear them.
Sounds with frequencies
above 20 000 hertz are called
ultrasounds.
Uses of Ultrasound in Medicine
Ultrasound is used for
examining soft tissue inside
the body.

Parts of the body that may be

examined include muscles
and unborn babies.

Blood flow can also be

monitored using ultrasound.

2000 ATL Ultrasound

Ultrasound images courtesy of ATL
The Power of Ultrasound
Modern ultrasound
equipment can produce
3D images
Colour enhancement to
show blood flow
Digital files for
examination on
computers 2000 ATL Ultrasound
Ultrasound images courtesy of ATL
Aaah, How Cute!
The images so far have been
of static images, ultrasound
captures movement.

This baby is so pleased to

see you its waving!

You can see more images at

http://www.unborn.com/window/wel
come1.htm (but youll need an
internet connection to get there!)
2000 ATL Ultrasound
Ultrasound images courtesy of ATL
Why Use Ultrasound?

Ultrasound is very safe. There is no firm

evidence that it does any harm to the body (or
the baby in the case of pregnancy scans).

X-rays are potentially dangerous, particularly to

young children and pregnant women (they
damage the unborn baby).
How Does It Work?

Medical ultrasound systems use very high frequencies

- several megahertz (mega means million or 106).

A sound is a wave it has all the usual wave properties

(reflection, refraction, diffraction). Ultrasound imaging
makes use of the fact that sound can be reflected.

The idea is just like that used in radar and sonar.

 More about how it works
A thin layer of jelly is placed between
the probe and the skin to make sure all Ultrasound
the sound enters the body. probe

The probe contains a transmitter and a

receiver.

A pulse of ultrasound is sent out by the

transmitter. skin

The pulse is reflected from a surface

and returns to the receiver.
The ultrasound machine measures Body tissue
how long it takes for the pulse to return (muscle etc)
How the image is created
Millions of sound waves are
transmitted every second.
As the waves reflected at
different times, the computer
in the ultrasound machine
calculates how far the wave
travelled before being
reflected (using d=vt).
Using this information the
computer builds up an image
of the inside of the patient. 2000 ATL Ultrasound
Ultrasound images courtesy of ATL
Menu: Please make a choice

Re-run the presentation

Starter questions

Problem solving strategies

General questions

Credit questions
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Starter Questions
Answer all question in sentences. If you are stuck, look back through
the presentation. Press a key to go to the next question.

1. What is ultrasound?

2. What can ultrasound be used for?

3. Which of these frequencies are ultrasound frequencies?

2 500 Hz 23 000 Hz 15.1 kHz 36 kHz

4 MHz 0.58 MHz 600 000 Hz 0.00009 Hz

4. What advantages does ultrasound have over x-rays for examining

inside the body?
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Answers to Starter Questions

1. Ultrasound is sound with a frequency above 20 000 Hz. If you have just said that it is a
sound we cannot hear, that is not quite accurate enough.

2. Ultrasound can be used for examining soft tissue inside the body. For example, muscle, the
heart and unborn babies.

3. The following are ultrasound frequencies:

23 000 Hz, 36 kHz, 4 MHz, 0.58 MHz, 600 000 Hz

4. Ultrasound does not have any damaging effect on the body. It is entirely safe to use, even
on very young foetuses. X-rays are harmful, particularly on young and unborn children.

Please return to the main menu and select credit or general questions

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Problem Solving Strategies

Most of the problems involving ultrasound
need you to use v=d/t or v=fl
Things to look out for:
Units- time will often be in milliseconds
(ms). Take care not to get this
confused with metres per second (m/s
or ms-1). and distances may be in mm
or cm
There will often be an echo (or reflection
involved. This means that you will need to
think carefully about the times and
distances involved. The following worked
examples should help you.
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Example Problems
There are several example questions.

You can either work through all of them, or

choose the ones you want to look at .

Changing units

Reflections
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Basic Question Example 1

Things to look out forunits!

The speed of sound in human tissue is summarise the information:
1500m/s. How long will it take for a v = 1500 m/s
sound wave to reach a muscle 4 cm d= 4 cm (units!) = 0.04 m
below the surface of the skin?
t=?
choose your equation
Press a key to go through the worked
example t=d/v
substitute in your numbers
t = 0.04/1500
t= 0.0000267s
change to standard form
t = 2.67 x 10-5s
(dont forget your units)
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Basic Question Example 2

Things to look out forunits!

How deep is a babys head if it takes summarise the information:
0.005 ms for a sound wave to reach it v = 1500 m/s
in the mothers womb? The speed of d= ?
sound in body tissue is 1500 m/s.
t = 0.05 ms (units!) = 0.005 x 10-3 s
choose your equation
Press a key to go through the worked
example d=vt
substitute in your numbers
d = 1500 x 0.05 x 10-3
d= 0.075 m
(dont forget your units)

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Questions involving reflections

The thing you must remember in these is

that the sound has to make a round trip.

The sound must travel to the baby from the

transmitter.

The sound must then travel back to the

transmitter from the baby.

If the baby is 7 cm below the skin, this

means the total distance travelled is 14
cm. You must remember to take the total
distance into account!
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Questions involving reflections 1

The speed of sound in the summarise the information

human body is 1500 m/s. If a
v = 1500 m/s
foetus is 6 cm below the
mothers skin, how long will it d = 6cm (change units and double the distance)
take for the echo to be received?
d= 0.12 m
t=?
choose your equation
t = d/v
substitute in your numbers
t = 0.12/1500
t = 0.00008 s
change to standard form
t = 8 x 10-5 s
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Questions involving reflections 2

It take 0.2 ms for the sound from summarise the information

ultrasound probe to travel to a
v = 1500 m/s
babys heel and back again. If
sound travels at 1500 m/s inside d=?
the body, how far is the babys
t = 0.2 ms (change units and halve the time)
foot below the mothers skin?
t = 0.0001s
choose your equation
d = vt
substitute in your numbers
d = 1500 x 0.0001
d = 0.15 m

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General Questions 1
Show all your working and include units in your answers. If you are stuck, look back at the
worked examples.

1. If the speed of sound in the human body is 1500 m/s, how long will it take sound to travel
0.12 m?
2. Medical ultrasound uses frequencies of 160.8 MHz. Write this frequency in hertz using
standard form.
3. Change 2.3 ms to seconds.
4. How far would an ultrasound wave travel in 2.3 ms if it has a speed of 1500 ms?
5. A sound wave travelled 8 cm through bone in 0.04 ms. How fast was the wave travelling?

Click here to get the answers!

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General Answers 1
Check your answers. If you have got any wrong, ask your teacher for help.

1. 0.00008 s (0.08 ms)

2. 1.608 x 108 Hz (or 160.8 x 106 Hzbut this isnt quite as good)
3. 0.0023
4. 3.45 m
5. 2000 m/s

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General Questions 2
Show all your working and include units in your answers. If you are stuck, look back at the
worked examples. These questions use v=fl.

1. What is the wavelength of an ultrasound wave if it has a frequency of 2 000 000 Hz and is
travelling with a speed of 1500 m/s?
2. When checking a patient for a muscle injury, sound with a wavelength of 0.000875 m is
used. If the frequency of the sound was 2 MHz, find the speed of the sound in the body.
3. A dog whistle emits ultrasound. If the speed of sound in air is 330 m/s and the sound has a
wavelength of 1.1 mm, find the frequency of the dog whistle.

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General Answers 2
Check your answers. If you have got any wrong, ask your teacher for help.

1. 0.00075 m
2. 1750 m/s
3. 30 000 Hz

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Credit Questions
Show all your working and include units in your answers. If you are stuck, look back at the
worked examples

1. When examining a 20 week old baby, an ultrasound pulse of frequency 2.5 MHz travels 12
cm down to the babys back. The sound is travelling at 1500 m/s.
a) How long will it take for the echo to return to the probe?
b) What is the wavelength of the ultrasound?

2. A sound wave used to examine the bladder has a frequency of 15 MHz. The sound travels
at 1500 m/s through the body. The sound travels for 0.04s before returning to the probe.
a) How far below the surface of the skin is the bladder?
b) Calculate the wavelength of the ultrasound.

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Credit Answers
Check your answers. If you have got any wrong, ask your teacher for help.
1.
a) 0.16 ms
b) 0.6 mm

2. A sound wave used to examine the bladder has a frequency of 15 MHz. The sound travels
at 1500 m/s through the body. The sound travels for 0.02 ms before returning to the probe.
a) 3 cm
b) 0.1 mm

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